


Get-Well Valentine Basket

by YunaBlaze



Series: The Blind Violinist & The Grumpy Veteran [2]
Category: Deus Ex: Mankind Divided
Genre: Alternate Universe - Music, Awkwardness, Denial of Feelings, Fluff, Idiots in Love, M/M, Sick Adam Jensen, Sickfic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-19
Updated: 2020-02-19
Packaged: 2021-02-28 04:41:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,218
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22808014
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/YunaBlaze/pseuds/YunaBlaze
Summary: Duncan MacReady was happy with this so-close-yet-so-far distant relationship he had with his downstairs neighbour, Adam Jensen. After all, if they don't see each other, they won't start sassing each other and ruin both their day and mood. It's fine that they kept passing each other gifts and notes through the basket. At least Macready thought he was fine with it, until the day the notes and gifts stopped coming in...
Relationships: Adam Jensen/Duncan MacReady
Series: The Blind Violinist & The Grumpy Veteran [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1655500
Comments: 1
Kudos: 9
Collections: Chocolate Box - Round 5





	Get-Well Valentine Basket

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Kameiko](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kameiko/gifts).



> A late Valentine gift to you! I hope this story is to your liking!

Duncan MacReady was not exactly pleased with his boring retired life, but his new jobs as a firearm instructor and a self-defence teacher at least guaranteed him some form of action and an outlet for his frustration, as well as some financial income. Nonetheless, his life still remained as monotone as ever. Well... maybe not without its occasional surprises.

The moment the veteran unlocked his flat’s door, his brown eyes went straight to the window where a covered basket was left hanging. A smile was stretched over his lips despite how tired he was feeling as he made his way over to retrieve the basket from outside. He untied the rope that kept the cloth over the blanket, finding several fruit jams and a stainless steel lunch jar that was still warm to the touch with a note stuck on top of it.

_Bonne Appetite. – Adam_

Underneath those two words were small raised dots that MacReady believed were the braille version of “Bonne Appetite.”

His downstairs neighbour was very cute in a manner of speaking. A shy violinist who seemed determined to hide himself from the world despite how beautifully he played his instrument. This whole basket gifting started when he wished to convey his appreciation of the musician’s art with hot chocolate, overtime they started exchanging more notes and gifts. Sad that the guy was not the perfect female violinist he had in mind. As much as he wished he could remain in denial and just stubbornly ignored the truth, it was hard to continue this stupidity when his neighbour was just plain adorable and attentive despite their distance and his bad vision. Not to mention how good the violinist could cook, though he would prefer something else for breakfast than cereals...

Nonetheless, it felt almost... domestic... This relationship of theirs. It also brightened his bad day up every day, knowing that someone had prepared something for him and was eagerly awaiting him as well.

The brunet went to set the food aside in the kitchen before he picked up some music CDs he had brought with Adam in mind and a box of butter cookies. He carefully set them into the basket and covered it with the cloth once more, then he lowered the whole thing to the floor below. Duncan really hoped that Adam liked his gifts and looked forward to tomorrow’s basket.

Unfortunately for him, there was only an empty basket waiting for him when he came home from work the next day.

***

**Three days later...**

Nothing. Absolutely nothing. Nothing at all!

Three days! THREE! WHOLE! DAYS! OF NOTHINGNESS!

APPROACHING FOUR DAYS NOW!

At first, Duncan thought that Adam might just be busy that day, so he hasn’t been able to get him anything like he usually did. He waited for the next day and the day after, the basket remained as barren as a desert! He was pretty sure a spider was going to be using it for a nesting site soon!

Then there was this traitorous voice whispering in the back of his mind that he should man up and just headed downstairs to check on his neighbour. There was nothing but a floor separating them, so it shouldn’t prove troublesome to just walk out of here, take the elevator down and knock on the door. Better get an answer directly from the man himself than staying up here and wondering what the hell had happened.

Yeah! He should do this! WHY WAS HE EVEN ACTING LIKE SOME LOVESTRUCK IDIOT WAITING FOR A LOVE LETTER?!

The veteran got up and marched towards the door in frustration before he paused, realizing that he would sound terribly unreasonable if he went banging on Adam’s door like this. Maybe a bit unhinged as well. Ugh!

MacReady started pacing around his living room, considering his tactics a bit and giving himself a little cool down period. Okay, banging on the door like a madman was out of question, because he was not interested in having the landlady breathing down his neck for disturbing the peace. Going in machinegun barrage interrogation style was also a no-no, seeing he was not his boyfriend or anything. Coming as a concerned friend? That... sounded nice, but felt weirdly wrong as well...

Duncan wouldn’t deny that he wished his and Adam’s relationship was more than just simple friendship, though they hadn’t exactly talked to each other face-to-face, seeing they seemed to have the bad habit of going all snarky towards one another when they were in the same room. Yet they both acted like high school teenagers when they passed the notes to each other!

The brunet brooded over this whole impasse phase between him and Adam, which he now realized that he wasn’t very happy with. He was getting more frustrated as he thought about it. UGH! THAT’S IT!

The veteran stomped towards the kitchen with the full intention to work out his anger issue and maybe later break this semi-solid proverbial wall between him and the blind guy.

***

Adam Jensen was pretty certain he was dying here. At least, it felt like he was dying. This fever of his had already squeezed out three quarter of his life these last three days and he barely had any strength left in him to drag himself to the kitchen to get some canned soup. As his body continued to burn from inside out, the feverish man wondered if MacReady was starting to worry about his weird absence or was he even eating properly these days without him providing him some good meals?

The visually impaired man groaned as he buried his face into his pillow. There he went again, acting like he was that guy’s boyfriend or something. He was not sure why the guy could be such a brash jerk when facing him and yet acted all gentleman-like in his notes. Maybe he had some kind of bipolar problem?

The sick man sighed as he wrapped his thick comforter tightly around himself. He couldn’t really blame everything on MacReady, seeing that he acted very much like a prick as well whenever they met. Their relationship seemed to only work on paper. Said fact annoyed him slightly the more he thought about it these days. It was not that Adam didn’t want to make some attempts to change things, but at the same time, it felt a bit... presumptuous if he did something about it? At least that was the impression he got, seeing they had never really discussed what sort of relationship they actually had and they both seemed at ease with their current pace.

Ugh... That sounded more like the mindset of a coward...

...

Scratched that. He was pretty much thinking like a coward. Pilling up excuses after excuses to not act, because he was afraid of changes. He had long accepted the idea that things were better for him to handle on his own, especially with his failing vision, something that many people could accept him with. Even the doctor told him that even with surgery, his sight would not fully recover. So far, Adam thought he had managed pretty well on his own, working as a music teacher despite his disability and his friend, Pritchard, had managed to create a decent app that could scan and play the music notes on the music sheet should his weak vision failed him. In a way, it was thanked to his bad vision that he had even started his musical career, otherwise he would probably end up working as a cop or something along those lines like his dad. This was much more peaceful and relaxing.

Not to mention, he might not have met Duncan MacReady if he was working as a local cop or a security guard in a company.

Adam coughed a bit as he tried to settle into another comfortable position, hoping that his consciousness would turn off soon, because feeling every lump and dryness in your throat and nostrils was horribly torturous.

Suddenly his doorbell rang. Loudly.

The blind man stifled a groan as the noise reverberated in his skull much like a hammer hitting a bell in full force. He swore to himself that he was going to have to have Pritchard set up new system where he could just answer the door remotely. At least it would save him a bit more energy.

Adam groaned once more as whoever was ringing at the door continued their noise barrage as he got up with his comforter wrapped around himself and shuffled his way towards the door, already thinking a thousand curses to throw at whoever decided to disturb his rest and maybe add a few punches and slaps. The brunet opened the door roughly, ready to deal with whatever murderer or burglar who came knocking for an easy target. He didn’t expect his weak vision to be filled with blurry dark red. Was that blood?!

‘Hey... Surprise?’ a hesitant but familiar voice declared.

‘Duncan?’ Adam muttered, squinting his eyes slightly as he tried to look over this huge blob of bloody red. Were they roses? Sadly, his vision was getting worse with how sick he was.

‘Yeah,’ MacReady replied moving whatever it was away from Adam’s weak line of sight. The brunet couldn’t really see clearly, though it seemed his neighbour’s face was equally red. ‘Uh... do you mind if I come in. This is a little heavy.’

‘Uh... yeah... sure... Come in,’ Adam said, coughing slightly as he turned away from his guest. Why the hell was MacReady doing here anyway?

‘Are you sick or something?’ Came the hesitant question.

‘What do you think, Captain Obvious?’ Adam threw back sarcastically, coughing some more as he felt a bit light-headed, forcing him to close his eyes and let the darkness bring him some small comfort. He should have just ignored the damn door and just plugged his ears up, this was not doing his health any favor.

A heavy sigh was heard from behind, but the sick man was busy coughing his own organs out to care his sass bruising the other’s ego.

Surprisingly, instead of just leaving whatever that big red thing was and returning to his own apartment, Adam felt the other’s hands on his shoulder and arm, gentle and solid, guiding to sit down on the couch.

‘I’ll be right back,’ MacReady said softly, so unlike his usual brash Brit character. It was odd, though the blind man was grateful. The surprise was far from over when he heard the creaking of his cupboards being opened and the cling and clang of his dishware being moved. What was the man doing over there?

His answer came with a whiff of a delicious aroma. A promise of something tasty and hot. He barely paid attention to the gentle words from the other man as he was carefully spoon-fed some delicious tomato soup, tender meats and chewable vegetables.

How strange. He usually would have refused help, out of stubbornness and pride, because he wanted to prove to others that despite his disability, he could be independent and was capable to take care of himself. Now, here he was, not even sassing back like he usually did with his bull-headed neighbour and letting him take care of him.

‘Thank you,’ Adam thanked Duncan after he had finished the soup. His throat feeling much after eating something wet and his body felt warmer.

‘You’re welcome,’ his neighbour said, though the blind man couldn’t see it, he knew the other was smiling as he sensed the other leaving his side to put away the dirty bowl and spoon.

The brunet felt very satisfied with this warm and full sensation, feeling an almost drunk smile stretched over his lips.

‘What’s with that stupid smile?’ MacReady asked teasingly as he sat back down beside him.

‘That’s the smile of contentment, you idiot,’ Adam retorted back playfully as a sense of drowsiness filled him. It felt nice. His stomach felt full, his throat wasn’t sore anymore and his body was no longer shivering constantly. ‘Thanks...’

MacReady made a questioning hum at his word.

‘Thanks for checking up on me,’ the brunet clarified. His smile turning into a soft one. ‘And the soup is really good.’

With his eyes closed, Adam could easily sense the slightest movement from the other. The light little tremors from his neighbour that indicated his silent nervousness as he awkwardly said, ‘Good to know I didn’t manage to screw up. Thought it looks like a meal for Dracula or something. Then again, I think I might have gone overboard with the colour red. I mean, I got red roses, red chocolate box, strawberries. I literally made it into a DIY Valentine bas-’

Adam cut the British off by kissing him. Best method to shut someone up, especially when said someone you might or might not have a crush on. Well, he got his answer to that question. A crush was a definite no, but love? Yeah. A hell yes for that. He was most certainly in love with his idiotic neighbour.

Duncan pulled away from the kiss abruptly as he shouted in a horrified tone, ‘Why the bloody hell did you kiss me when you are sick?!’

Well...

So much for wishing for a romantic ending...


End file.
